Step 9: Configuring the PostgreSQL SysV Script

The SysV script will allow the graceful control of the PostgreSQL database through the use of the SysV runlevel system. The SysV script can be used for starting, stopping, and status-checking of PostgreSQL. It is known to work with most Red Hat based versions of Linux, including Mandrake; however, it should work with other SysV systems (e.g., UnixWare, Solaris, etc.) with little modification. The script is named linux . To use it, you will first need to copy the linux script to your init.d directory. You may require root access to do this.

First, change to the directory where you unpacked the PostgreSQL source. In our case, the path to that directory is /usr/local/src/postgresql-7.1.3/ . Then, issue a cp command to copy the script from contrib/start-scripts into the init.d directory. Example 2-19 demonstrates how to do this on a Red Hat Linux system.

$ 
cd /usr/local/src/postgresql-7.1.3/

$ 
su -c "cp contrib/start-scripts/linux /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql"

Example 2-19 arbitrarily re-names the new copy to postgresql ; you may call it whatever you prefer, though it is typically named either postgresql , or postgres .

You will need to make the script file executable after copying it. To do so, use the command shown in Example 2-20.

$ 
su -c "chmod a+x /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql"

There are no additional requirements to use the SysV script with Red Hat, if you do not intend on using it to start PostgreSQL automatically (i.e., if you wish to use the script manually). However, if you do wish for the script to startup PostgreSQL automatically when the machine boots up (or changes runlevels), you will need to have the chkconfig program installed. If chkconfig is installed, you will also need to add the following two lines, including the hash (#) symbol, at the beginning of the /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql file:

# chkconfig: 345 85 15
# description: PostgreSQL RDBMS

These example numbers should work on your system; however, it is good to know what role they perform. The first group of numbers (345) represent which runlevels PostgreSQL should be started at. The example shown would start PostgreSQL at runlevels 3, 4, and 5. The second group of numbers (85) represent the order in which PostgreSQL should be started within that runlevel, relative to other programs. You should probably keep the second number high, to indicate that it should be started later in the runlevel. The third number (15) represents the order in which PostgreSQL should be shutdown. It is a good idea to keep this number low, representing a shutdown order that is inverse from the startup order. As previously mentioned, the script should work on your system with the numbers provided, but you can change them if it is necessary.

Once these two lines have been added to the script, you can use the commands shown in Example 2-21 on Red Hat and Mandrake Linux distributions to start the PostgreSQL database. Be sure to execute these as the root user.

$ 
service postgresql start

Starting PostgreSQL: ok
$ 
service postgresql stop

Stopping PostgreSQL: ok